“Based on almost 20 years of success in Canada, several of our largest US retail clients have expressed great interest in seeing our youth loyalty model move south of the border. We believe the time is now right. We have already signed on half-a-dozen National retailers for the US program,” said Student Price Card President Dean Mazzariol.
The recent downturn and slow recovery of the economy has posed challenges to both student shoppers and retailers alike. The retail market has seen a fundamental, long-term shift in consumer psychology and purchasing behaviour. Cash-strapped students are looking for greater value from the stores where they shop, while retailers are in search of new and innovative ways to attract new young shoppers. Retailers are also looking for new and innovative ways of having their established customers come back more often.
“The Student Price Card is one of the best ideas that I have found that gives the student a reason to not only shop, but to shop where they feel appreciated and are given an instant reward for their business. Many stores have loyalty and reward programs, but only Student Price Card is able to work across all the needs of a student shopper. They can replace numerous cards and schemes with one simple, low cost card that gets them what they need when they need it. All in all, a win for the student and a big win for the stores who capture their business,” noted retail industry expert and consultant James Dion of Dionco Inc.
Bryon Milburn, Managing Director of Foot Locker Canada noted that they “have been a proud partner of the SPC program for the past 10 years. Our sales associates are able to use the SPC program as an excellent selling tool. More importantly, the program assists us in attracting and retaining our loyal, core consumer.”
Conventional rewards or points programs have always had a hard time attracting youth customers, as many younger shoppers do not have the patience to collect - or have a high enough spend - to make these programs worthwhile. “Our loyalty philosophy is quite simple: give young shoppers what they want, and they will reward retailers with their loyalty. Student Price Cards’ members purchasing behavior has repeatedly demonstrated to our participating retail partners that they are the big winners in our partnership. Our retail partners are continually being rewarded with higher average spends, loyal customers, and more active youth shoppers,” explained Nicholas Bianchi Student Price Card Director of Loyalty Marketing.
Student Price Card’s retail partners include such top North American brands as: Aéropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Aldo Shoes, Armani Exchange, Burger King, Champs Sports, Claire’s, FCUK French Connection, Foot Locker, Guess, Levi’s Stores, Lucky Brand Jeans, Orange Julius, Payless ShoeSource, Pizza Hut and many more. The company believes that these types of established relationships will be the springboard for their successful entry into the US market.
Company Profile
Student Price Card is North America’s student loyalty program with over 120 national retail partners and over 650,000 student shopper members in Canada.
Since 1992 Student Price Card has been helping retailers drive sales by marketing its unique discount rewards to student shoppers between the ages of 14-24.
Student Price Card’s mission is to deliver exceptional value to its members through exclusive discounts & perks on relevant products and services. In turn, it rewards its retail partners with a loyal and valuable base of youth shoppers.